The Fifth Liar
by LikeLight
Summary: Kelsey Pattrick has had a year to come to terms with the disappearance of her best friend. But with the discovery of her body and the mysterious A, the past is determined to catch up with her. Resolved to find her best friend's killer, while dodging A and the past, Kelsey isn't sure she'll make it out of Rosewood.
1. Chapter 1

_**Pilot**_

 _Thunder roared outside Spencer's barn and the wind crashed into it, testing its strength against the firm wooden structure. Inside the music blared, blocking out the sounds of the storm as the five girls sat around laughing and drinking. Kelsey took a sip from her drink, her eyes nervously flicking upwards as the lights began to flicker. Kelsey opens her mouth to make a joke about the flickering lights, but the music and lights fail altogether before she can and the joke dies on her lips. "Whoa what happened?" Emily questions, as Aria picks the flashlight from the floor._

 _"It must be the storm," Spencer reasoned, always the logical one of the five._

 _The barn lets out a squeak, startling the five of them, "Something's out there," Aria whispers, her eyes searching towards the door of the barn in fright. The barn door slowly swings open, creaking on its hinges._

 _"Guys," Hanna's says fearfully, as the five of them stand up grouping together in order to face the danger together. They take careful small steps, moving ever closer to the apparent danger. The sound of glass breaking causes a scream to escape from each of their lips. Aria clutches the flashlight tighter, as they all continue to move forward despite their fear._

 _Just as the light of the flashlight flickered against the door, a figure appeared, "Gotcha," Alison says, her words greeted with a scream from her friends._

 _Alison's laughs at the sight of her friend's terrified faces, "That's so not funny, Alison," Spencer snaps, as her heartbeat begins to steady._

 _"I thought it was hilarious," Alison replies smiling as she passes the girls to make her way back to the seats. The five girls follow her, joining their laughter with hers._

 _"Ali, did you download the new Beyonce?" Hanna asks, as she takes her seat._

 _Alison sighs, "Not yet," she admits._

 _"I'm loving her new video," Emily comments, smiling happily as she settles into her seat._

 _"Maybe a little too much, Em," Alison responds, her eyes twinkling._

 _"I don't think it's possible to love a Beyonce video too much," Kelsey comments, crossing her legs on the ground next to Alison's seat._

 _Alison laughs, picking up the orange glass and passes it to Aria, "Your turn, come on," she sing-songs. Aria looks at the liquid before beginning to drink, causing the girls around her to laugh._

 _"Careful Aria," Spencer warns, "take too much and you'll tell us all your secrets."_

 _The girls giggle at Spencer's words, but Alison's just smiles looking at them all, "Friends share secrets, that's what keeps us close."_

* * *

 _Kelsey eyes open slowly, her body complaining at being forced to sleep on the floor with only a cushion for comfort. She stretches sitting up, carefully she studies her surroundings, her eyes finding Aria, Emily and Hanna but no Spencer or Ali. "Aria," she whispers quietly, placing her hand on the sleeping girl. Her actions have a domino effect as the three sleeping girls all slowly waken one after another._

 _"Where's Ali and Spencer?" Hanna question tiredly._

 _Kelsey shakes her head, once more her blue eyes search the barn, "Don't know," she mutters frowning._

 _Aria stands up moving towards the barn doors, "Ali," she calls out, just as Spencer arrives before the barn door. Kelsey stands up, her eyes glancing behind Spencer to see if Alison was there._

 _"She's gone," Spencer says in response to Aria's call._

 _"What do you mean she's gone?" Aria asks in confusion, as Kelsey comes to stand beside her._

 _"I've looked everywhere for her, I think I heard her scream," Spencer tells them._

 _ **1 Year Later**_

Kelsey runs her hands through her red hair, still unsure about how she felt about having it straight. "Are you sure it looks okay?" she questions the boy occupying the driver's seat beside her.

He runs his fingers through her hair, a twinkle in his eyes, "It could be worse," he jokes.

Kelsey laughs, hitting his chest, "Noel, you're the worst," she says, leaning towards him as their lips meet. He twirls her hair between his fingers as the kiss deepens. Kelsey sighs inwardly as she pull away, her eyes turning to look out the windscreen. "Is that Aria with Emily?" she questions, leaning forward to get a better look at the girl walking into school with Emily.

"Didn't she use to have a pink stripe in her hair?" Noel asks from beside her.

"Yeah, I suppose she got rid of it," she muses quietly, unsure about how she felt about Aria being back. She shakes her head turning back to Noel, "Hey do you," she begins to ask, but Noel stops her placing a wad of money in her hand. She places a quick peck on his lips as she places the money in her bag, "Thanks," she murmurs, jumping out of the car.

"When do you want to go again?" Noel questions her, locking his car as he comes to place his arm around her shoulders.

Kelsey ponders the question in her mind carefully, "Don't know I'll have to ask Carl," she responds, as the two speed up their steps to fall in step with a few of Noel's lacrosse buddies. Kelsey eyes are drawn down as her black boots step over something. She frowns as her eyes catch a crumpled missing poster and her eyes meet with Ali's face. Kelsey takes a deep breath, trying to pay attention to the conservation taking place around her and not thinking about Alison.

* * *

Kelsey separated with Noel as she stepped into her English class, catching a glance of Hanna and Mona, no doubt gossiping about someone. She gave Hanna half a smile as their eyes met. "Hey Kels," Spencer says, as she walks past Kelsey making her way to her seat.

"Spence," she replies, walking down the rows to take the seat behind Emily. "Aria," she greets quietly, as she settles into her seat.

Aria turns to look back at her giving her a smile, "Hey Kels," she replies, as Emily turns to face Kelsey to.

Kelsey eyes turn from them as the new English teacher walks in, "I hear he's supposed to be hot," she comments to the two of them, feeling the need to make some sort of conversation as she shrugs off her black leather jacket.

"Same here," Emily agrees, as he begins to write his name across the black board. Kelsey leans into her bag pulling out her notebook, in truth uninterested in what the new English teacher looked like.

"Holy crap," the teacher declared and Kelsey glanced surprised at Aria who claimed all of their teacher's attention. Aria looks up, an embarrassed look covering her face as she realizes the eyes of the whole class are on her.

A chime from a phone rings out, and Aria grabs her bag, "Sorry," she mutters.

"Uh, I'm Mr Fitz, your new English teacher."

* * *

"Hey, loser," Kelsey says happily, grabbing the headphones from the ears of a boy who was hunched over a table in the library.

"Kelsey," he complains as she takes the seat next to him.

"Thom, what's your mum cooking tonight?" she asks him, a smile on her face at his annoyed expression.

"Something you hate," he responds to her, closing the book he was reading.

Kelsey rolls her eyes, "That's what you always say," she reminds him, drumming her red painted fingernails on the table.

Thom shakes his golden locks, "That's what happens when my best friend, lives at my house half the time," he retorts, his brown eyes twinkling playfully.

"I know," Kelsey says, dropping her black messenger bag on the table, "but Noel's parents hate me and its depressing at home by myself," she confesses.

Thom gives her a sympathetic smile, "Your brother not home?" he questions cautiously.

Kelsey laughs, "Is he ever?" she asks rhetorically.

"Kels," Thom starts, "he's meant to be your legal guardian," he reminds her, his tone quiet and his eyes on his friends.

Kelsey laughed again, "I don't even think he could define legal guardian," she responds, standing and pulling her black singlet just over the top of her red skinny jeans, her arm hitting her bag causing it to fall to the ground. Thom immediately got to the ground, picking up her stuff. Kelsey jumps down, "I've got it," she snaps, pulling her bag away from him.

Thom's eyes catch something that has fallen out of the bag, "Kels?" he questions warily. Kelsey follows her gaze, quickly grabbing the cash off the ground and stuffing it into her bag. "What was that?" Thom asks, as Kelsey stands up putting her messenger bag over her shoulders.

"Its nothing," she responds quickly, "just my brother keeps taking money from my account is all, so I keep it in cash," she lies at the look of distrust on her friend's face.

Thom shrugs, "Of course he does," he shakes his head taking his seat once more.

Kelsey takes a deep breath, pushing the strands of hair out of her face, "So dinner?" she questions nervously.

"Of course," Thom replies, "see you later." Kelsey smiles, fishing her phone out of her pocket as she hears it buzz.

 _Aww poor Kels, afraid to lose another best friend to the truth – A._

Kelsey looks up, her eyes searching over the room frantically. "Alison," she whispers, trying to catch a glimpse of the familiar golden hair.

 _ **Flashback**_

 _The street is dark as a blonde girl, storms out of one of the houses, slamming the door behind her. "Ali," Kelsey calls frantically, opening the door and chasing after her. "Ali," she snaps, grabbing Alison arm._

 _"Let go of me," Alison warns, her voice dark._

 _"You can't tell anyone," Kelsey begs her, her eyes watering._

 _"What is wrong with you Kelsey?" Alison questions, her voice without pity, "you realize how wrong it is?"_

 _Kelsey nods slowly, "But he's the only family I've got, you can't tell anyone," she says her voice shaking, as she fights back tears._

 _"Kels," Alison says softly, pulling her friend into a hug, "you have me, but you won't if you don't turn your dad in," she whispers into Kelsey's ear._

 _"Ali," Kelsey sobs, "I can't."_

 _Alison takes a step back, "Then I don't know how we can stay friends."_

* * *

Kelsey kicked the stone in front of her, pulling out her headphones as she spied the commotion going on a few feet ahead. Near Alison's house. She pushed her feet forward, her eyes spying the cops and the body bag. It didn't make any sense to her, she had been sure Alison was back. She pulled her overnight bag closer to her, spying Aria and Spencer. She almost ran over to them, feeling the need to be beside people who might understand the tumult of emotions inside her. "I heard the cops took Hanna to the police station today," Aria says as Kelsey stood beside her and Spencer.

"You don't think she'd ever talk about," Spencer begins, "the Jenna thing," Hanna finishes, arriving to stand beside the three of them.

"We made a promise," she assures them, and Kelsey breathes a sigh of relief.

* * *

Thom took the hand of his best friend as they stepped towards the church. "Thanks for coming," Kelsey says to him, unable to add that she couldn't have bared it alone. Regardless of her and Ali's differences as far as Kelsey was concerned Ali had been family. Sure they had fought, but what sisters didn't? And now she was gone. Like the rest of her family. She caught the eye of Emily and her mum and before Kelsey could stop herself she had run up and pulled Emily into a hug.

"You okay, Kels?" Emily asks gently.

Kelsey shrugged, "Are you?" she retorts, even if in their hearts they had always known it never made it better. Kelsey turned around to see Spencer and her family approach, and Kelsey once again enveloped one of her former best friends in a hug, giving Spencer a sad smile as they broke apart. Thom came up beside her as Spencer and Emily hugged and their families greeted each other.

"Lets head inside," she tells Thom, sidestepping the Fields and the Hastings. The church was packed, like Kelsey had known it would be. Her eyes swept the pews looking for a place to seat.

"Kelsey, Spencer, and Emily," Kelsey looked up at her name to see Mrs DiLaurentis coming over and she felt Spencer and Emily stand beside her. "Would you girls sit up the front together, Hanna's already there," Mrs DiLaurentis asks them.

Kelsey looked at Spencer and Emily before nodding, "Sure of course," she tells her.

Mrs DiLaurentis smiles, "It's what Ali would have wanted."

Kelsey turns to Thom who nods towards the back row, "I'll be back here," he promises.

"Thanks," Kelsey murmurs, before following Spencer and Aria towards the front. Kelsey stops just before the front, her eyes travelling back to the DiLaurentis family. Where was Jason? The question came to her mind before she had a chance to stop it. Shaking her head she took a seat next to the other girls, giving Hanna a smile as she sat beside her. It was hard to take her eyes off the coffin and the photo of Ali, so happy, it was all so wrong. Kelsey eyes strayed upwards to see Aria, and they all shifted along making room for the fifth of Ali's best friends.

"Poor Ali," Emily says softly, staring at the picture in front of them.

"Can you believe what a scene this is?" Hanna questions a smile on her face.

Kelsey smiles to, "Its everything Alison would have wanted it to be," she admits, her eyes drifting back to all the people flowing in.

"She would have loved it," Aria agrees.

"Popular in life and death," Spencer murmurs. Hanna looks across at Emily, the most affected by the events, and slips a phial out of her clutch, and passes it across Kelsey and Spencer.

Emily glances down at it, "No thanks, I don't," Emily responds to the gesture.

"Today I think you do," Hanna argues, giving Emily a smile. Emily takes it as Aria's phone goes off, causing the four other girls to look at her. "Anyone we know?" Hanna questions as Aria opens her phone.

"No, its just my mum sending me a text," Aria assures her before closing her phone and staring at the faces of the four other girls. "Emily and I aren't the only one who got messages from A are we?" she asks them. Kelsey turns to look at Emily, both surprised and unsurprised to find her friends had also received messages from A.

Spencer turns back towards the door of the church, "Oh my God," she breathes, "its Jenna." With those words all of the girls turn to look upon the blind girl, taking her seat in the church. Kelsey shifts uncomfortably before turning back to face the front.

"Did you see that Jenna Marshall was here?" Mrs DiLaurentis asks the five of them as her and her husband took their seats, "I didn't realize her and Alison were friends."

"They weren't," Spencer quickly interjects.

* * *

Kelsey straightens her black dress as she walks out her arm interlocked with Emily's. Hanna and Aria walked in front of them and Spencer was on the other side of Emily. "Kelsey," the voice stops the five girls, "Emily, Spencer, Aria and Hanna," they're all greeted by a man in a black suit.

"Do we know you?" Spencer asks him confused.

"I'm detective Wilden. I understand you were all good friends with the victim," he introduces himself.

"Yeah, we were," Aria confirms for them all.

"I'm going to need to talk to each one of you," he informs them, passing Spencer his card.

"We talked to the police when Alison went missing," Spencer tells him, warily taking the card from his hand.

"And I intend to go over every one of your statements. This is no longer a missing persons investigation. It's a murder. Rest assured, I will find out what happened that summer," he promises, but something about the way the words came out of his mouth, made it sound more like a threat to the girls. "Kelsey," Wilden says turning his attention to the red hair, "is your brother here?"

Kelsey plays with her necklace nervously, "No he's been out of town for a few days," she replies.

"Well tell him to call me when he gets back," he says to her.

"Sure," Kelsey mutters as Detective Wilden walks away.

"Do you know him?" Spencer questions Kelsey.

Kelsey sighs quietly, "Not really he's just an old friend of my brother's," she murmurs, "you don't think he knows about?" Kelsey begins, spotting Jenna getting into a town car.

"No, how could he," Hanna quickly responds, as the girls form a circle. Kelsey glances back, spying Wilden watching them from he stood leaning against a tree. Her attention is drawn back to the others as each of their phones go off. Kelsey grabs her phone from her shoulder bag, pulling it out.

"Oh my god," Aria states.

"Its from," Hanna begins, looking down at her phone in disbelief.

"I got one too," Emily says.

"Me too," Kelsey mutters, her hand clutching around her phone.

"I'm still here bitches," Spencer begins to read.

"And I know everything – A," the girls all read in unison.

* * *

 **A/N - So I haven't written in forever and I couldn't think of a better way to get back into than with a fanfiction.**

 **This is going to be an eventual Jason/OC story, but with all good things it's going to take some time :)**

 **Feel free to comment, I would love to hear what you think, as I said I have a written in a while so I'm not even sure how good this is.**

 **:)**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Jenna Thing**

Kelsey shifted in her seat, trying to put herself in a position that prevented her dress from riding up. Sighing she gave up, refocusing her attention on the other four girls. It had been a long time since the five of them had gone out together. "Why was Jenna there?" Aria asks the question that been lurking at the edge of each of the five girls minds.

"Probably to celebrate Alison's demise," Kelsey mutters darkly, "or she's back in town."

"That cop acted like we were suspects or something," Hanna mused, causing Kelsey to bite the bottom of her lip. Were they?

"Do you think we looked guilty?" Emily questions, her voice filled with worry.

"Why would we?" Aria retorts, "we haven't done anything wrong."

"Except lie about the Jenna thing," Hanna counters, causing Kelsey to shift in her seat once more.

"Seriously can we quit it with the Jenna thing, as far as I'm concerned it never happened," Kelsey hisses, lowering her voice to a whisper.

"Have you found a way to forget?" Aria asks in return to Kelsey's words, "I still wake up sometimes in the middle of the night."

"Aria, it was an accident," Spencer interrupts her, trying to put the matter to rest. Kelsey eyed Hanna as she poured the liquid from her flask into her drink, Kelsey reaches out her hand taking the flask from Hanna.

"It's medicinal," Hanna explains to the old man watching them, as Kelsey takes a swig of the liquid wishing that it was powerful enough to make her believe the Jenna thing never happened. "Cramps," Hanna adds as she takes the flask back from Kelsey.

"I don't get it, how does A know something about me that only Alison knew?" Emily questions them and Kelsey placed a hand on her forehead, almost not wanting to know the answer to that question.

"Ali, knew all our secrets, but we never knew any of hers," Aria says, almost bewildered at the revelation.

"I knew some," Spencer states, her eyes trained down on the coffee mug she held in her hands.

"Go on," Aria urges her, as the four girls stared at Spencer waiting for her to reveal something about the girl who kept all her secrets from them.

"Talk," Hanna encourages, as Spencer's lips stay sealed.

"I can't," Spencer argues.

"Spence, no you are not going to drop a bomb like that and just clam up," Aria snaps, determined to hear the truth.

"She'd so kill me if I told you," Spencer tries to explain.

"God, Spencer she's dead," Kelsey snaps, annoyed at the fact Spencer had brought something up and refused to share. Emily sends a disapproving look at Kelsey's words, but Kelsey just shrugged it off.

"Ali was seeing someone that summer," Spencer finally confesses.

"I knew she was keeping something from me," Emily states, "from us," she corrects herself quickly.

"Well, why didn't she want us to know?" Aria asks in confusion.

"He was an older boy and he had a girlfriend," Spencer replies, causing Kelsey to smile it was just so typically Ali.

"Who was it?" Emily asks eagerly.

Spencer shrugs, "I don't know, she never told me his name," she admits.

"Okay that's only half a secret," Hanna tells her, as Kelsey hums in agreement.

"Its more than you ever got from her," Spencer retorts.

Aria shakes her head slightly, "How is it Ali told us nothing and we told her everything?" she questions them.

"Because she made us feel like we were part of something special," Emily says, her words ringing true for all of them.

"We were," Hanna adds smiling.

"I miss that," Aria admits.

"Me too," Spencer agrees.

"More than anything," Kelsey sighs.

"I miss Ali," Emily confesses, her eyes travelling down to look at the purple woven bracelet she wore.

"I can't believe you still wear that," Hanna comments.

"Ali still wears her," Emily tells her, "wore," she corrects herself quickly.

"When Ali didn't come home that night, I knew something terrible must have happened, but there was always some part of me that imagined someday she'd just show up," Spencer tells the rest of them, her words almost regretful.

"Yeah, I used to think she'd just run off with some guy," Aria admits to them, causing them to smile at the thought.

"Run off to some exotic island, waiting just long enough for her return to be legendary," Kelsey muses, a sad smile at the thought.

"Laying on a beach somewhere," Emily says sadly.

"Or getting a tan out by the pool with that hot lifeguard," Hanna says, bringing a true grin to each of the girls faces.

"What was his name?" Aria asks, the memory coming back to her.

"Who cares?" Hanna questions shrugging, "save me." The two words caused a laugh to escape from each of the five girls lips. The door opening to the grille and the sound of a stick clanking against the ground, killed the laughter. The five girls sat uncomfortable and disturbed trying not to think about Jenna being so close. Sharing a look the girls grabbed their bags each parting ways in a different direction.

* * *

Kelsey pads down to the kitchen, carefully pulling the milk out of the fridge and groaning when she saw it was off. She stepped over to the rubbish dropping it in. The sun shone through the windows that lined up behind the kitchen and Kelsey flinched. She wished she had stayed at Thom's last night at least she might have had coffee. The slam of the front door caused Kelsey to jump, and the sounds of heavy feet on the wooden floor, made her duck down behind the island counter without thought. She had no idea who could possibly be in her house. Maybe it was just Noel she reasoned with herself, but he didn't have a key and she hadn't left the front door open. Had she? The footsteps drew closer, "Kelsey?" a familiar male voice yells out.

"Troy," Kelsey says in surprise standing up to find him on the other side of the counter.

His eyes travel to the floor up to her, "Great hiding place," he comments, handing a coffee over to her. Kelsey takes it thankfully, before her eyes narrow in suspicion.

"You're back," she states, her studying him. His blonde hair was unkempt and his blue eyes were bloodshot as if he hadn't slept in a while, or he was on something. Crumpled dress shirt and stained jeans, he'd run out of money Kelsey decided.

"I heard they found Alison's body," he says.

"Don't you dare try and say something nice," Kelsey snaps, or pretend that's why your back she adds in her head.

Troy shakes his head, "Wouldn't dream of it," he assures her.

"Wilden wanted you to call when you got back in town," she informs him, watching his reaction carefully.

Troy's eyes meet her own, "Did he?" he questions, "what for?"

Kelsey shrugs, "How should I know? He's working on Alison's case."

A hint of something flashed in Troy's eyes before disappearing again before Kelsey could identify it, "I heard," he comments, before shaking his head, "I going to have a shower," he tells her. Kelsey watches him retreat, pondering whether he knew something.

* * *

"So how was it, hanging with the four girls again?" Thom questions her as they walk into school together. Normally Kelsey got a ride from Noel to school, but Thom's mother had been concerned and had insisted on taking her to school. Kelsey wondered if that's what it was like to have a mother who cared.

"It was," Kelsey begins searching for the right word, "familiar, I suppose," she mutters.

"Well you were best friends," Thom reminds her.

"The key word, being were," she reminds him, flicking her hair over to the side.

"Doesn't have to be that way," Thom counters, causing Kelsey to roll her eyes.

"What are you my therapist?" she questions teasingly, her eyes finding Noel in the school hallways. "I'll see you later," she tells Thom, heading over to Noel who was leaning against her locker. "You're not going to ask how I am?" she questions him playfully.

Noel grins, "Not anymore I'm not," he assures her.

"Good," she replies, "cause I'm fine," she assures him, bringing their lips together to meet in a kiss.

"So you talked to Carl yet?" Noel questions her, as the separate.

Kelsey sighs, "My brother's back in town and its probably not a good idea when he's around," Kelsey explains to him, not to mention she already had police problems with Alison being dead.

"Afraid he'll find out?" he asks her.

Kelsey shrugs, "Something like that." In truth it was more for the fact, that her and brother were far too alike when they needed money, they both did what their father had taught them to do.

"Besides, we could do something normal for a date, eat dinner, go to movie," she says laughing as she catches the look in Noel's eyes, "that really does sound awful doesn't it?"

"Not if its with you," Noel replies, placing a finger under her chin.

"Ever the charmer," she counters, closing her eyes trying to come up with something for them to do. "I have an idea," she claims, "these guys I know."

"Should I be concerned about all these guys you know?" Noel interrupts his tone playful.

"Yes," she responds laughing, "they hold these races on the outskirts of town, we should go," she suggests, her eyes twinkling.

Noel grins at her words, "Now that does sound more our speed," he agrees.

"I'll get in contact with them," Kelsey tells him, as the bell rings sounding the beginning of school. Noel places a quick kiss on her lips, before they head in different directions to class.

"Will the following students please come to the office, Emily Fields, Aria Montgomery, Spencer Hastings, Hanna Marin and Kelsey Pattrick," the announcement stops Kelsey's approach to class. Kelsey heads over to where the other four girls are standing, preparing to walk to the office with them. She ponders the reason why they're being called as Aria's phone goes off.

"Wait," Aria tells them as they begin to walk, "its from A," she tells them.

Kelsey heads over reading over Aria's shoulder, "Dead girls walking," she reads out loud.

* * *

Kelsey watches Wilden look over the papers nervously as she sat on the arm of the office's couch with the four other girls. "So let's see," he begins, "you thought you heard her scream," he says pointing at Spencer.

"I said that yeah," Spencer replies to him.

"And when you four woke up in the barn Alison was gone, and so was Spencer," he question the other four girls.

"Yeah I woke up before them and I realized Ali was missing," Spencer explains to him, "so you went looking for her," Wilden finishes for her, taking a seat on the office's desk.

"That's what happened," Spencer confirms.

"I got that, so what's up was this a slumber party or?" he begins to ask them before Spencer interrupts, "is this an interrogation?"

"No just a routine follow up," he assures them, "why did you guys all fall asleep?" he asks them, as if the concept of such a thing happening was unbelievable.

"I guess we were tired," Aria seeks to explain.

"Tired really?" he says in disbelief, "is that how you remember it Hanna?" he question switching his attention to the blonde girl.

"Yeah," Hanna agrees.

"Look, we've told you everything we know just like we did the night she went missing, there's nothing new to add," Kelsey snaps, disliking Wilden's style of questioning.

"I know and you see the thing is, its almost exactly what you said last year, almost like it was rehearsed," he says.

"Like Kelsey said we've told you everything we know," Aria tells him, breaking the silence his words had left.

* * *

"He knows we're lying," Aria comments as they all sat around a table in the cafeteria.

"Lying is not a crime," Hanna argues.

"It is when you're giving false statements to the police, its called obstruction of justice," Spencer informs her.

"Oh please," Hanna scoffs, "we lied about drinking. Look the truth that matters is that we don't know anything about what happened to Ali that night."

"We also know about someone who might have wanted to hurt her," Spencer reminds them.

"Spencer," Kelsey begs, wishing she hadn't brought that up.

"We should have told the police the truth about Jenna's accident the night it happened," Emily says regretfully.

"I wanted to, remember?" Hanna reminds them, raising her eyebrows.

"We should have stopped Ali," Kelsey mutters, her mind almost straying back to that night.

"But we didn't, and telling the police now about what happened to Jenna isn't going to make her see again. It'll just ruin our lives," Spencer concludes, her argument sound to the girl's ears. The sound of a cane hitting the ground draws the girl's attention across to Jenna, making her way into the cafeteria.

"Oh my god, she's back in school to," Hanna declares in disbelief.

Aria stands up making her way over to Jenna, "Jenna, hey its Aria, do you want to come sit with us?" she offers to the girls dismay.

"Sure," Jenna agrees.

"Okay," Aria says, taking Jenna's tray out of her hands.

"Thanks," Jenna says in response. Jenna places a hand on Aria's shoulder as Aria leads her to the table.

"So you're going to be in between Emily and Hanna, and Spencer and Kelsey are across from you," Aria informs her, placing the tray down.

"Thank you," Jenna says.

"Yeah and here's a chair," Aria tells her, grabbing a chair from the opposite table and placing it in front of the table for her.

"So this would be Alison's chair right," Jenna comments as she sits down.

"No, we're not even sitting at that table," Emily quickly responds. Kelsey glares at Aria as she takes her seat back, the last thing she wanted was to have to stare across at Jenna while eating.

"You know, she came to visit me in the hospital after the accident," Jenna tells them, folding up her cane.

"Alison did?" Spencer questions in disbelief.

"Mmm-hmm, everyone misunderstood Alison but I knew exactly who she was," Jenna claims, her words carrying a darker meaning.

"When did you get back Jenna, we heard that you were in Philadelphia, a school for the," here Spencer hesitates, "visually impaired."

Jenna smiles, "You can say blind Spencer, it's okay its not a dirty word," she reassures her, opening her juice and taking a sip. "Wow so quiet, you guys used to be the fun table," Jenna comments, "what happened to you girls?" she says, with a laugh added at the end.

 _ **Flashback**_

 _The six girls laugh and joke playing around with different clothes as the music blares in Emily's room. Alison threw on a pink top, admiring herself in the mirror, giving Emily a smile that the four other girls missed. Her smile died as she spots something, "I see you," she yells marching over to the window, "oh my God I can't believe it," she hisses turning back to face the other girls._

 _"Who was it Ali? What did you see?" Emily asks, worry evident in her voice._

 _"He was in that tree spying on us, I am so creeped out," Ali replies her voice full of disgust._

 _"Who was it?" Spencer questions her._

 _"It was the perv, Toby Cavanaugh," Alison informs them._

 _"Were you sure?" Aria asks her._

 _"Yes I'm sure, he was right there," she retorts, "I bet he saw us all naked." The girls stare horrified at the thought._

 _"Well should we tell someone?" Aria questions, trying to discover what to do in the disturbing situation._

 _"I mean we could," Ali replies, before a sly smile overcomes her features, "but I have a better idea."_

* * *

 _The fireworks raged across the sky as Alison and her friends tiptoed their way to the Cavanaugh backyard, led by Alison of course. "Are we sure he's not in there?" Aria's question, referring to the shed that was just ahead._

 _"He's not okay, you got the lighter right Spencer?" Alison questions._

 _Emily grabs Alison's arm, "Let's wait a second," she says worried._

 _"What, Emily?" Alison snaps, turning to face her._

 _"I don't want to do this," she confesses, worry making her shift where she stood._

 _"Fine go back you're on your own," Alison tells her, waving her off._

 _"Okay, maybe Emily's right. We should just call the cops. They'll take care of it," Aria suggests, almost beginning to doubt whether this was a good plan._

 _"Where's the fun in that? Girls, Toby Cavanaugh is a freak, and we need to teach him a lesson. If he thinks he can come and spy on us while we're in your bedroom, Emily, he needs to know that his little domain, is no longer a safe little hideout," Alison explains to them, her eyes travelling to the shed, "who knows what he does in there all day, the little freak."_

 _"Are you sure that it was Toby?" Spencer questions her._

 _"Yes," Alison hisses._

 _"Come on girls, it's a stink bomb," Kelsey tells them in support of Alison._

 _"Exactly we're not nuking the place, now lets do it," Alison encourages them, walking up to the door of the shed. "Give me the lighter," she demands of Spencer, Spencer pulls it out of her pocket passing it to Alison. Alison lights it, throwing in through the door taking a look around before slamming the door. "Run," she urges the girls as they follow her out of the driveway. Glass shattering, causes them to scream and turn back to see the shed on fire._

 _"Ali, what did you do?" Spencer asks her, voice full of fear._

 _"We have to get out of here, come on let's go," Alison tells them, forcing the girls to move away from the burning shed._

* * *

The five girl's cellphones go off one after another, Jenna reaches out, picking up Kelsey's phone and handing it to her, "Aren't you going to get that?" she questions. Kelsey takes it hesitantly as the four girls pick up their phones and read the new text.

 _If only she could see how guilty you look… - A_

* * *

Kelsey waved to Noel as he drove off. Turning back to face the driveway she was surprised to find her brother walking out their front door, with Wilden striding beside them. She stood where she was, watching them carefully. They weren't talking loud enough for her to hear, but whatever the conversation was about it looked intense. Kelsey took a step closer, wondering if she could figure out what they were talking about before they noticed her. Unfortunately her heels hitting the concrete drew Troy's attention, "Hey Kels," he calls out, alerting Wilden to her presence.

Kelsey smiled, walking towards them, "Hey, Detective Wilden," she greets as she approaches them.

"Hello Kelsey," he replies, "Troy we should do this again," he says.

"Anytime," Troy responds his tone tense.

Wilden nods, "Would love to stay but I have dinner plans," he informs them.

"What a shame," Kelsey mutters sarcastically.

"Bye," Troy waves, giving Kelsey a cold glare. As Wilden drives away, Kelsey turns to face her brother.

"What was that?" she questions.

"Two old friends catching up," Troy informs her.

"Yeah see you and him never seem like two old friends catching up," Kelsey counters, keeping her voice level.

Troy shakes his head, "Call it whatever you want, but there's nothing wrong with having a cop as a friend," he replies, his words pointed.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Kelsey snaps in response hands on hips.

"It means that I talked to Cory," he retorts, causing Kelsey to look down, "yeah he told me all about how you and your boyfriend have been doing some work for him. Real nice Kelsey. I mean I send you more than enough money to live on, hell I give you more money than I have half the time, what could you possibly need extra money for?"

"Maybe I just like nice things," Kelsey counters.

Troy glares at her, "Not buying it," he grabs her arm, looking her in the eye, "are you still sending money to dad?" he asks her.

Kelsey shakes her arm out of his grip, "And if I was?" she asks him.

"Don't," Troy says, a warning tone to his voice.

"He's our father," Kelsey reasons.

"He left us," Troy reminds her.

"Because he had to," Kelsey snaps her voice filled with annoyance at Troy.

"Yeah, who's fault is that?" Troy questions her, his voice acidic. Kelsey glares, walking past him no longer interested in this conversation. "I talked to Cory, you're not working for him anymore," Troy informs her, causing her to turn back.

"You had no right," she argues.

"Yeah, try I'm your legal guardian," he replies to her.

Kelsey scoffs, "If you were, you'd actually be here instead of out making money in god knows what way."

"Money you have never not taken," he reminds her.

"Being here is more important than money," Kelsey mutters quietly, but she knows he hears her.

"Yeah I think that if I was here all the time, we'd come to hate each other," he says to her, his voice as quiet as her own.

"We already do," she responds tiredly.

"And I repeat, who's fault is that?"

* * *

Kelsey sits on the edge of her bed trying to study as the rain poured down outside. Looking up her eyes glanced over the photo wall above the headboard of her bed. As always her eyes found the one photo of her and Alison she had left up there, now that she was dead, she was almost tempted to take it down. But she couldn't. Sighing she hopped off her bed, pulling out the box of old photos and keepsakes she kept under there. She paused before she opening it, wondering if now was really the time to take a trip down memory lane. Her eyes crossed to the rain pouring down outside her window and decided maybe it was. She pulled the lid off the box, a picture of the six girls together the first thing she sees. She pulls it out, and spots the thing hiding under it. The bracelet Alison had given all of them so long ago.

 _ **Flashback**_

 _The six girls sit at the Grille laughing together, as they sipped their cold drink on the sun soaked day. "I got you guys something," Alison declares._

 _"What's the occasion?" Spencer questions, as Alison handed out pouches to each of the girls._

 _"You'll see, open them," she encourages each of them. The girls smile and quickly open the gift Alison had given them. A woven bracelet that had each of their names on it._

 _"We'll be friends forever," Alison promises them, as they place the bracelets on their wrists._

* * *

Kelsey sighed fighting the memory away as she places the bracelet back in the box. It was filled with memories that's why she had never opened it. She makes a move to put the lid back on before her eyes catch a familiar mop of blonde hair in the corner of one of the photos. It was the one photo that had never been up on her wall. Jason and her sat back to back both laughing at some old forgotten joke she could no longer recall. She couldn't even remember who had taken the photo, Alison no doubt, after all she was the one who had given it to her. She put down the photo, quickly returning the lid to the box. Jason was Alison's brother, that's all he was to her she reminded herself. Besides she had Noel now.

* * *

 **A/N Yay another chapter pretty soon after the first, I'm really getting back into this writing thing :) Thanks for the support for the first chapter.**

 **Don't forget to review :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**To Kill A Mocking Girl**

"Who's idea was this again?" Hanna questions pointedly as the five girls follow Emily's lead into the woods.

"Emily's mum," Spencer answers, as they climb up a steep incline of a track they once all knew well.

"The shed was me, my mum just said we should do something," Emily explains to them.

"And we couldn't have chosen to do something less out of the way and time consuming?" Kelsey mutters, as she walks in last behind the four other girls.

"Or without mosquitos?" Hanna complains.

"They're no mosquitos, they're gnats," Aria corrects her.

"Whatever they're small and annoying, and they're flying up my nose," Hanna says annoyed, as she struggles to walk the dirt path in her small heels.

"Well, they attracted to your perfume, and your hair product and your lip gloss," Spencer informs her, a small smile on her face.

"So what are you saying I attract flies?" Hanna questions, turning to look at Spencer, a glint in her eyes.

Kelsey smiles at Hanna, "Gnats Hanna, she's saying you attract gnats," she corrects her jokingly.

"Why do I feel like this is the wrong way?" Emily questions from the front of the line, stopping to take in her surroundings.

"No this is it," Spencer says, coming forward to a stop, "I remember that tree, it's the halfway point, there's a 136 steps left to the shed," she informs them pointing up to the giant oak.

"Have you been out here since," Emily begins her words cautious, "Alison?"

"Me?" Spencer responds in surprise, "no, no way."

"But you remember that tree," Aria says, her words fill of suspicion.

"You guys, its not that weird," Hanna springs to Spencer's defence, "I mean we came out here in eighth grade like every day. Even after."

"Why are we putting a shrine to Alison out here anyway?" Kelsey questions, still not sold on the entire point of this venture.

"It's not a shrine, its just a place to remember Alison. What's wrong with that?" Emily asks, looking at each of the four girls.

Kelsey sighs crossing her arms, "Why can't we remember Alison in a place not in the words, or maybe we don't need a place to remember her at all," she counters Emily.

Emily gives Kelsey a hurt look opening her mouth to respond but Spencer jumps in, "Maybe Kelsey's right doing it out here makes it look like something to hide."

"You're worried what other people think?" Emily asks in disbelief.

"Well aren't you?" Spencer counters, "do you really want to give that creepy detective more reasons to question us?" Hanna shakes her head at the conversation walking forward, causing the other four to follow after her.

"Hanna why are you so quiet?" Emily questions as she trails after her.

"I'm trying to keep the bugs in my nose and out of my mouth," she tells them as an excuse to evade what was really on her mind.

"You're allowed to have an opinion on this," Emily tells her.

"You want my opinion?" Hanna asks, stopping and turning to face the four girls, "I say we hold off and not remember her until we know for sure she's not still here."

"What?" the four girls question in unison, shocked by Hanna's words.

"You think she's still alive?" Emily asks.

"Hanna, they found her body," Spencer reminds her.

"Stop," Aria says, holding up her hand, "I'm officially scared. Can we just not."

"You know, you asked for my opinion," Hanna interrupts Aria, "I don't believe she's really gone." With those words Hanna turns around, walking forward and leaving the four girls to rush after her again.

"Hanna, we went to her funeral," Kelsey reminds her friend, though her words sounded uncertain. Alison still being alive would explain a lot.

"Yeah and when we left we all got a text from her," Hanna replies.

"It wasn't her," Emily tells her firmly, "someone is messing with us."

"How do you know? And what about all those nasty messages? How does A know stuff that only Ali knew?" Hanna asks, trying to make them doubt their own surety.

"Okay, this conversation giving me a hive," Aria puts in, attempting to change the subject.

"That's a bite," Hanna says stopping, "mosquito," she tells Aria as she turns to face them again.

Emily sighs, "Spencer, have you gotten anymore messages?" Emily questions her.

"Haven't you?" Spencer asks in response. Cracking of branches startles the five girls, causing them to turn and look into the bushes.

"What was that?" Emily questions, eyes wide, "did you hear that?" she asks Aria.

"Yes I heard that I'm standing right beside you," Aria whispers, not taking her eyes off the direction the sound had come from.

"Hello? Is anybody out there?" Hanna calls.

"You know what its probably a rabbit," Kelsey assures the four girls.

"Hello," Hanna calls out once more.

"Hanna rabbit, its not going to start talking," Kelsey tells the blonde girl, earning a glare from Hanna.

"Can we just get to the shed?" Emily says, her voice sounding slightly panicked. More branches snap and this time the sound seems to be even closer to the five girls.

"Okay that is definitely not a rabbit, someone's out there," Hanna whispers, looking at the four girls before quickly looking back at the path.

"Lets turn around," Emily suggests, the girls all nodding turning just as each of their cellphone's go off. Kelsey pulls hers out of her pocket with dread, opening the new message from an unknown sender.

 _Heads up, BFFS. Its open season on liars and I'm hunting… - A_

* * *

Kelsey ties the laces on her shoes, looking up to find Troy standing in her doorframe, hands behind his back. "Can I help you?" she questions him, her words cold.

"Found this on the porch," he says, revealing a white envelope that Kelsey recognized all too well. "Trying to work out who you know in Atlanta," he tells her, turning the envelope over in his hands.

Kelsey stands up, snatching it from him, "None of your business," she snaps, glaring at her older brother.

"Kels," he begins.

"Troy," she counters, pushing him out of her room and closing the door. She sighs, sitting cross legged on her bed as she looked at the envelope. She didn't understand how it ended back on her porch, she had sent it to Atlanta for goodness sake. She sighs picking it up again and turning it over to find the letter was no longer sealed. Her eyes immediately turned to the door, assuming that her brother had opened it. Her fingers pulled the contents of the letter out, bills of money flowed out along with a note written on white card.

 _Careful Kels, if you keep helping your father, I might be forced to turn him in again. And it looks like I know where to find him… - A_

Kelsey eyes read the card quickly, before stuffing it and the money back into the envelope. She pulls her box from under her bed, hiding the letter under layers of photos before taking a deep breath. Maybe Hanna was right, maybe Alison was still around because this felt like her. Who else could know about her father? Kelsey shakes her head, Alison was dead and this person was just somebody trying to mess with her and her friends. Kelsey could just imagine them sifting through mail to try and get the letter and the thought brought a smile to her lips. Grabbing her bag off the floor she shrugs the fear away but the threat still lingers at the back of her mind. How far would this person really go?

* * *

Kelsey quickly steps back from her locker as someone slams it shut. "Noel," she complains in annoyance, "that could have hit me."

"You've been ignoring me," he says to her as she forces her books into her bag.

"Not ignoring, just been busy," she mutters putting her bag over her shoulders.

"Did I do something?" Noel questions her, catching Kelsey eyes.

She sighs, "No its just you've been so excited about this party, which is fine," she assures him, "but."

"But you thought I forgot what tomorrow night is?" he finishes the sentence for her.

"You didn't?" she asks in surprise.

"No of course not, I know how hard it was for you to tell me about your mother, I wouldn't forget," he tells her sincerely, giving her a small smile.

Kelsey puts her arms around him hugging him, "Thank you, for remembering," she says pulling away.

Noel places his hand on her wrist, "If you don't want to come to the party I get it, if you asked me to I wouldn't go," he informs her.

The words make Kelsey smile, she twists her arm so her hand is on Noel's wrist, "Of course I'm going," she promises him, "it's the party of the year remember?" Noel smiles broadly, giving her kiss on the lips but Kelsey quickly pulls away when she hears the familiar sound of a cane clicking against the floor. She turns to see Jenna walking in with her step-brother Toby on her arm. Kelsey inwardly cringes at the sight of them. Did that mean Toby was back to? "Catch up later," she says to Noel, walking up at the same time as Emily to group up with the other three girls.

"He's back too, when did that happen?" Aria asks in shock.

"Maybe she needs help sending radioactive emails," Hanna suggests and Kelsey thinks back to the letter underneath her bed.

"Yeah, or maybe he's sending some himself," she says, reasoning that no blind girl could have found that letter.

"Hanna," the voice of Wilden startles the girls.

"Great cops on campus," Kelsey mutters, looking up at Wilden.

"I just spoke with your principal asked him if we could have a chat," he informs Hanna.

"No, I have to get to class," Hanna argues immediately. Kelsey couldn't blame her, Wilden was off.

"Don't worry you've been excused," he tells her, "let's go."

"What is going on? Why just her?" Aria questions as the two walk off.

"Probably thinks she's the easiest to crack," Emily guesses.

"She is," Spencer says.

Kelsey shrugs, "I think Hanna's tougher then you think," she argues, after all it took a lot to transform like Hanna had in a year.

"Whisper, whisper, whisper, almost feels like Alison's still here," Jenna comments as she strides past the four of them.

* * *

"What are you doing?" Spencer questions Aria as the four girls lean against the lockers, wondering about Hanna, "is that a new phone?"

"Yeah, I'm checking my Kin. I'll just write on Hanna's wall from here," Aria explains to them.

"If she's not answering her texts, why would she be on Facebook?" Kelsey questions Aria's logic.

"Its worth a try," Aria shrugs, continuing to type into her phone.

"What's going on?" Hanna greets them all.

"We've been trying to get a hold of you," Aria tell her, stepping out of the way so Hanna can get into her locker, "what happened in there?"

"Nothing, just the same old stupid questions," Hanna replies, pushing books into her locker.

"You were in there for an hour Hanna, what else did he ask?" Spencer questions her, worried about what Hanna might have said.

"Nothing, he just took a couple calls, and I just there waiting for him to shut up," Hanna assures them, closing her locker and turning to face the four girls once more.

"Well, is he going to question all of us alone now?" Aria asks her worried.

"Who knows," Hanna responds shrugging, "look lets do this at lunch okay? I have to hit the ladies before my next class," she tells them, walking away leaving the four girls to stare after her in confusion.

"Is she being weird?" Spencer asks, as she watches Hanna disappear into the bathroom.

"She's being weird," Emily confirms, "I'll see you guys at lunch."

* * *

Kelsey smooth's the crinkles in red dress, while slipping on her black heels. She wasn't exactly in the dress up mood with everything going on, but Noel was so excited about this party and she probably needed something to get her mind off things. Kelsey sighs smoothing out her straight hair, wondering how she ended up with someone who loved to party, when she tended to despise the practice. Depending on the time of party of course. "Drinking already?" Kelsey questions as she makes her way downstairs, grabbing her black purse off the coffee table. Troy stretches out his legs from where he sits on the couch, so that his feet occupy the spot her bag had just been.

Troy shrugs, taking another swig of his beer, "Figure if you miss dad so much, I might as well do what he did on this day," Troy mutters.

Kelsey sighs, taking a seat on the coffee table, "Don't do this Troy, don't be this person," she begs him. Troy pulls his feet from the table, leaning his body forward so their inches apart from each other.

"What makes you think I'm capable of being anyone other than this person?" he questions her, his voice low.

"Because I've remember who you were before dad left," she whispers, just as her phone goes off. She takes it out of her bag, "Noel's here," she mutters standing up once more, "you're better than this," she says to Troy taking the beer bottle out of his hand and putting it on the table.

* * *

Kelsey watches Noel and Sean playing foosball at his cabin party, fighting the urge to yawn. Hanna stood beside her, clearly impatient that Sean was basically ignoring her. Kelsey knew the feeling. It seemed strange to her now, that Hanna and her hadn't stayed closer, considering Noel and Sean were such good friends. It probably had something to do with Kelsey missing all the team parties. "Let's go outside for a bit," Kelsey suggests to Hanna.

Hanna looks at her before nodding, "I'll be right back," she says to Sean as they walk past. Their eyes catch Emily, Spencer and Aria talking together.

"What's going on?" Kelsey asks them as they approach.

"Toby Cavnaugh got into a fight with Ben over Emily," Aria explains to the both of them. Kelsey's eyes widen at the piece of news.

"It wasn't over me," Emily corrects Aria, "god, he just saved me."

"For what himself?" Spencer asks.

"Ew," Hanna comments at the thought.

"If we hadn't of asked you about Ben, would you have told us about this?" Aria questions Emily.

"Toby is not a good guy Emily, who could be seriously dangerous," Spencer says when Emily doesn't answer Aria.

"If he's such a bad guy, why'd he take the fall for us?" Emily counters. Spencer falters at the questions opening her mouth to say something but no words come out.

"Spencer, please tell me you are not keeping another secret," Kelsey begs.

"Guys, why don't we just like chill and talk about this somewhere else? When we're alone." Hanna suggests, noticing the people around them.

Aria shakes her head at the words, "I don't even know what just us, means anymore."

Hanna turns around, her attention being drawn to Sean who was walking outside, "Yeah, uh, lets talk about it tomorrow," she says, "are we still meeting up at the shed?" she questions as she walks away.

Kelsey shrugs, "Sure I'll see you guys tomorrow," she tells them, heading after Hanna and over to Noel.

* * *

"Sorry about before," Noel says to Kelsey, as she sits on the edge of his lap.

Kelsey shrugs, "I should have known I can't compete with a foosball table," she jokes, taking a sip of her drink. She wasn't even sure what was in it, to be perfectly honest. She wasn't one for drinking but for tonight she thought she could make an exception.

"I'm sorry anyway," Noel replies quietly. Kelsey gives him a quick smile, before turning around and trying to tune back into the conversation that was going on around them. Kelsey hears Hanna's name, watching as Mona calls out to Hanna who was getting into Sean's car. From the distance Kelsey was out she could was unsure if she was upset or not but judging by the fact she was ignoring Mona, Kelsey was willing to bet she was. She was also willing to bet, Hanna wasn't meant to be taking Sean's car.

"Give me your keys," Kelsey demands from Noel, standing up quickly.

"What?" Noel questions in confusion.

"Keys give me, I'm worried about Hanna," she quickly explains, one eye on Sean's car that Hanna had just started up. Noel reaches into his pocket handing them to her. "Thank you," she says, clasping the keys in her hand as she makes a run to Noel's car. She wasn't entirely sure why she was going after Hanna. Or maybe she did know, because it had meant the world when someone had gone after her.

 _ **Flashback**_

 _Kelsey wipes the stray tears from her eyes as she walks through the dark streets of Rosewood, quiet at this time of night. The air was frozen and goosebumps covered her bare arms as she shivered in the cold. She had given trying to walk in the heels Ali had given her a couple of streets ago and they hung loosely from her hands. A car pulling up beside her causes her to turn, as the window of the car winds down. "Kels," Alison's voice calls from the passenger seat, "get in." Kelsey shifts on her feet before nodding and slipping into the car._

 _"You're not allowed to drive," she reminds her friend, trying to hold back any more tears._

 _Alison laughs, "I don't think I'm going to get caught, besides I had to know you were alright."_

 _Kelsey places the heels on the floor of the car, "I'm fine," she mutters._

 _Alison places a hand on her back, "Kels I know what happened," she tells her quietly._

 _Kelsey holds back a sob, "God Ali, I don't know what I was thinking," she confesses, her words strained._

 _"I could have killed him for what he said," Alison responds, her words harsh._

 _Kelsey smiles sadly, "It's fine," she says shrugging, "I don't why I keep thinking people are going to stick around."_

 _Alison pulls her best friend into a hug, "Don't worry Kelsey I'll always be here, you and me we're going to be friends forever," she promises._

* * *

Kelsey realized the irony of the memory now, Alison used Kelsey's fear of people leaving against her. That's how the whole mess with her dad had happened. Alison could make her do almost anything by threatening her friendship, and yet Kelsey still thought of the dead girl as the closest thing to a sister she had ever got. Kelsey slows down as she sees the broken wreck of Sean's car. She drives carefully, her eyes searching for Hanna and finally catching her further up the road. "Hanna," she calls, stopping the car and jumping out.

"What?" Hanna snaps, wiping the tears out of her eyes, as she glances back to Sean's car.

"Get in, I'll give you a lift," Kelsey suggests. Hanna considers the offer not saying anything. "I'm not letting you walk all the way back," Kelsey tells her firmly.

"Fine," Hanna concedes jumping in the passenger seat. Kelsey doesn't say anything as she starts the car, guessing from Hanna's brisk manner she didn't really want to talk.

"Home?" Kelsey finally questions. Hanna just shrugs not responding to the question. Kelsey sighs adjusting her route so she was heading back to her house. "I took no answer as a no," Kelsey explains as they pulled into her driveway.

"Why are you even here?" Hanna finally asks, as Kelsey unclips her seatbelt.

"Because you're my friend," Kelsey tries.

"Am I?" Hanna responds, looking over to Kelsey, "I mean you seem like the only one who doesn't want to be part of the old group again," she points out.

"I never said that," Kelsey says quietly.

"Yeah, but you imply it all the time," Hanna counters her words. Kelsey places her hand on the wheel, wondering how they even got into this situation.

"Truth?" she finally asks. Hanna nods in response. "Losing Alison was hard, probably one of the hardest things I ever went through. But then to lose you four as well," Kelsey pauses, "I never want to go through that again," she admits. "Want another truth?" she asks before Hanna as a chance to respond to her words, "I don't know what's going on with you and Sean but I know that's he crazy about you. I mean he talks about you to Noel all the time."

"Really?" Hanna questions.

Kelsey nods, "I've even been there some times, its actually quite cute to be honest," she says jokingly.

Hanna laughs, "Now I'm embarrassed," she jokes in return.

Kelsey smiles, "Stay the night," she suggests jumping out of the car, "Sean and his car are still going to be there tomorrow." Hanna doesn't respond but follows Kelsey into the house anyway. Kelsey flicks the lights on to reveal her brother passed out on the couch, surrounding in alcohol bottles.

"Looks like someone had their own party," Hanna comments as she comes up behind Kelsey.

Kelsey sighs, "Sorry he doesn't normally drink, its just today is," here she stops, walking up the stairs towards her bedroom.

"Is?" Hanna questions the unfinished sentence.

Kelsey bites the bottom of her lips, "It's the day our mother left us, thirteen years ago," Kelsey finally explains, ushering Hanna into her bedroom.

"I never knew that," Hanna says quietly, "I mean I guess I knew she was around."

Kelsey smiles at Hanna, "Honestly it shouldn't be such a big deal, I mean I never really knew her. But dad he always ended up drinking on this one day of the year and we eventually figured out what it was," she admits, going to her closet and pulling out an old top and a pair of shorts.

"So that's why your brother is?" Hanna asks leaving the sentence hanging.

"Yeah," Kelsey confirms passing Hanna the clothes.

"I'm sorry about your dad," Hanna tells her.

"And I'm sorry about yours," Kelsey responds tiredly, taking the seat beside Hanna.

* * *

The next day the five girls gathered together at the woods once more. "Alison wanted us across the street, so you could have it out with Toby. Ali had something on him," Spencer tells the girls.

"Besides being a total perv that peeked in our windows?" Hanna questions.

"Yeah, something way bigger," Spencer confirms, "and she was threatening to tell everybody. That's why he took the fall for us."

"Why are you waiting until now to tell us?" Aria asks Spencer.

"I don't know, Ali made me promise, and I guess I was scared," Spencer admits to them all, "I thought if we never talked about that night again it would just go away." Kelsey nods, hadn't she thought the same thing.

"Yet it just keeps coming back up, we're never outrunning this hound," she tells them.

"Look there's four of us and one freak sending messages," Emily reminds them as the girls begin to walk again, "if we just talk to each other like this, I feel like it makes it easier to deal with everything."

"Emily's right," Kelsey confirms, "and this shouldn't be done out here in the middle of nowhere, we should do it where we can all see it everyday," she suggests to them.

"Like somewhere in school?" Hanna asks her.

"No," Aria responds for Kelsey, "in town. We should ask if we can put a bench somewhere. Wait, and you know what? Whoever did this to her, if they're still in rosewood, we should make them look at it every day, too," Aria finishes as they all stop walking standing in a circle.

"That's perfect," Kelsey agrees, "they should have to see it," she mutters darkly. Branches crack in the distance and Kelsey looks at the others before shrugging, she was going to find this person. She marches off towards the words, hearing the other girls come after her. Kelsey stops having lost the noise, she searches around trying to look for any trace of a person.

Hanna glances down, "Look," she tells the others. Five sets of eyes gaze down at the ground as the girls take a step forward.

"Is that yours?" Spencer asks them.

"Alison's," Aria answers, staring at the purple woven bracelet with Alison's name on it.

* * *

 **A/N - So I'm not a 100% sure about this chapter but hopefully its okay.**

 **Thanks for all of the support for this story and especially the reviews it means the world :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Can You Hear Me Now?**

"How bad did you mum bust you for wrecking Sean's car?" Emily questions Hanna as the five girls walk across the grassy park, a gentle breeze blowing through their hair.

"Okay I did not wreck it, I damaged it," Hanna corrects her.

"Oh yeah, it was totally only damaged," Kelsey says, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Hanna sends her a look, "Oh shut up Kels, and for your information everyone's actually being really mature about it," she informs the girls.

"I see," Kelsey mutters, dropping her bag on the bench the girls had been heading towards and had finally arrived at. "Would you stop it?" Hanna retorts, "we're acting like grownups that's all." Kelsey rolls her eyes, giving Hanna a smile to let her know she was only joking with her.

"Okay so the town is going to put in a new bench," Aria explains to them, drawing their attention to the reason they had gathered here, "we'll plant the flower beds and there's going to be a pathway of art tiles."

"Art tiles?" Spencer questions, taking a seat on the wooden bench.

"Messages, pictures, memories of Alison," Emily tells them.

"Oh," Hanna coos, "like little headstones."

Kelsey held back a laugh, "Hanna," Aria scolds the blonde girl.

"What?" Hanna replies.

"We should each do a tile," Emily encourages them.

"You know," Hanna begins, ruffling in her purse, "I have had Alison's bracelet since the day we found it in the woods and I don't want the responsibility anymore," she says, holding up the bracelet and holding it out to Aria.

Aria stares at her, her arms crossed, "I don't want it," she informs them, almost backing away from it.

"Seriously, somebody take this," Hanna demands. Kelsey sighs before taking it from Hanna, bending down to stuff it in her bag where she would hopefully forget about it.

"Look at us," Spencer comments, "a bunch of babies. There is nothing that A can say or do to get us into trouble without making more trouble for herself," she claims. Kelsey bit the bottom of her lip, unsure if that were really true.

"Are you sure it's a her?" Hanna questions, catching on to Spencer's use of the word herself.

Spencer shrugs, "Him, her, it doesn't make any difference," she says, pulling her laptop from her bag. Kelsey stands up taking the seat next to Spencer, as Spencer begins to type.

"What are you doing?" Kelsey asks curiously, peering over Spencer's shoulder.

"I'm going to block all messages from people that I don't know," Spencer says simply, "IMs, texts, emails, everything. Screw A." Kelsey smiles with Spencer as her new preferences are set.

"Give that to me," she demands, taking the laptop from Spencer, the thought of ridding her life from A to good to pass up.

Spencer stands up spotting Mr Fitz riding past on his bike, "I spy with my little eye something that begins with F," she says, leaning back to watch their English teacher.

"Hey, Mr Fitz," Hanna calls out, waving to him a sly smile on his face.

"Looking good, Mr Fitz," Spencer calls out.

Aria sighs and turns taking the laptop from Kelsey, "My turn," she sees, glancing up to look at Ezra. Mr Fitz looks back at them in confusion as he rides on.

"There are teachers that you don't want to see on a bike and there are teachers that you do want to see on a bike," Spencer comments.

"Here, here," Kelsey agrees.

"I would not want to see Mr Glory on a bike," Hanna replies.

"Ugh," Kelsey says, "I can't believe you would even bring that up," she complains, shaking her head to get the image out. Emily sits beside Aria taking the laptop from her.

"Ah, Mr Fitz," Hanna sighs.

"Hanna," Aria says suddenly, "isn't it your turn," she gestures to Emily who had just finished setting her preferences.

"You talk to Ben?" Spencer questions Emily, as the girl stands up.

"Nothing to talk about," Emily shrugs.

"So you're really done?" Aria asks in surprise, pushing her windblown hair back behind her ear.

"Its okay, I'm fine," Emily assures her.

"Okay, if you say so," Aria replies, turning back to Hanna who was just about to finish.

Hanna sighs happily, "I wish we had a drumroll for this," the girls all smile at her words, "alright here it goes," she says, hitting the enter button, "we are officially A proofed."

"Listen," Spencer begins, as Aria closes the laptop, "all those little messages zipping through the air all around us."

"Yep and none of them from A," Aria says satisfied.

"This feels like a good thing," Emily comments, taking the seat next to Aria.

"Could be," Kelsey agrees, though secretly inside she was unsure, it wasn't as if A had only left her messages electronically.

"Of course it's a good thing," Hanna says, "out of mind out of sight." The girls all smile thinking about life without A as a piece of paper blows in the wind towards them. Aria leans down to pick it up, showing it to the four other girls. Kelsey stares down at the missing picture of Alison. _Ding dong the bitch is dead,_ it read in red writing. The five girls glance around nervously as Kelsey grabs the paper from Aria scrunching it up in her hands angrily. They all take another glance around before picking up their stuff and quickly walking away.

* * *

Kelsey twirls her coffee cup around the table, unconcerned if the coffee spilt or not. A knock on the door startles her, "Come in," she calls, not interested in getting up to open the door. Thom walks through struggling to carry his heavy bag full of books.

"Aren't you going to be late?" he questions Kelsey who was still in her dressing gown.

Kelsey looks down at herself sighing, "Probably," she murmurs, staring down at her reflection in the coffee. Thom takes the seat across from her placing his bag on the table.

"Are you alright?" he asks her.

Kelsey glances up him before shaking her head, "Yes fine, just late night you know. I think I might skip first class," she tells him, smiling as she takes a sip of her coffee.

"As long as you're okay," Thom replies, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Aha," Kelsey nods, "perfect," she assures him, "shouldn't you be getting to class."

Thom gazes down at his watch before nodding, "Yeah, I'll see you at lunch?" he asks her.

Kelsey nods to the affirmative, "Now go," she encourages him. She watches him retreat back out the door, before pulling picking up the piece of card she had placed face down on the table. _Need to talk, meet me at our spot tonight. Love Dad._ Normally Kelsey would have jumped at the chance of seeing her father, but with A around she just didn't trust it. In fact she wasn't entirely sure what to do.

 _ **Flashback**_

 _Kelsey holds her coffee cup in her hands, tightening and untightening her grip on it. "Come in," she calls as someone knocks on the door. The door opens to reveal Alison, and Kelsey hesitates from where she sits on the stairs, tempted to run away from her._ _"What do you want?" she asks her cautiously._

 _Alison advances taking the seat next to Kelsey, "I think I might have overreacted," she admits, "its just I care about you Kels, we're like sisters remember," she says kindly, bumping Kelsey's shoulder._

 _"If that were true, you'd understand why I can't turn my father in," Kelsey retorts._

 _Alison sighs, "Kelsey don't you get it, your father is in and out of your life all the time. You deserve better than that, and if going to jail makes him see how important his family is, then isn't that worth it," she tries to explain to the red haired girl._

 _"No," Kelsey exclaims jumping up, "he's always here when it counts."_

 _Alison stands up, "Then I won't ask you to turn him in," she says kindly._

 _Kelsey blinks, "Are we still friends?" she whispers the words afraid of the answer._

 _"Of course," Alison promises, "we're sisters remember. Just promise me you'll remember that even sisters have differences of opinions."_

 _Kelsey shrugs unsure of what her words meant, "Of course."_

* * *

Kelsey throws her phone back in her pocket, ignoring the various texts from everyone about where she had been all day. Maybe she should have just blocked everyone. She pulls her jacket closer as she sits down on the picnic table at the old forgotten park, glancing around nervously. Before Alison's body was found she never worried being out alone this late, and now she wasn't so sure it was a good idea. She wrung her hands together nervously, wondering if she should have come earlier, she just assumed tonight meant after dark. A car pulling up draws her attention, and she shields her eyes from the headlights as someone gets out. "Dad," she squeals happily as she recognizes the figure, running up to him and hugging him.

"Hey little bear," he greets her with the old nickname.

She steps back, pulling the envelope full of money out of her bag, "I assume you came for this, I tried sending it but I don't think I'll be able to do that anymore," she rambles on, unsure of how to skip the A topic.

Her father blue eyes that match her own stare down at, "That's not why I came, I heard about Alison. I wanted to make sure you were alright," he corrects her.

"Oh," Kelsey murmurs, "of course you are, you're always here when it counts."

"Not always," he replies, "I should have been there when she disappeared."

"You couldn't, I understood then and I do now," she assures him.

Her father shakes her head, "I know and you shouldn't."

* * *

"Hey," Kelsey greets the girls cheerfully, walking into the classroom.

"You're cheerful," Spencer comments, "where were you yesterday?"

Kelsey shrugs, "Just wanted a day off," she says simply, "what are we talking about?"

"I had dinner with my dad last night," Hanna informs Kelsey.

Kelsey's eyes widen, "Really Hanna that's great, how'd it go?" she questions her friend.

Hanna smiles, "It was great, incredible really," she tells them.

"Where'd your dad take you?" Emily questions Hanna, like all the girls pleased at how happy Hanna was.

"Jollyrogers," Hanna answers joyfully.

The four girls laugh at her answer, "The lame amusement park," Aria says.

"Okay it is not lame, we didn't go on a tilt a whirl, we walked around and talked and I told him about what's going on," at this the girls share a nervous look, "some of what was going on," she corrects herself, "and he listened. He wants to take me to a real dinner tonight, he said he has something to tell me. I don't know I think he wants to spend more time with me, maybe summers in Maryland."

Emily grins at her friend's words, "Seriously?" she questions, excited for Hanna.

"Would you go?" Aria asks her.

"Well I wouldn't move away, not forever. I don't want to leave my mum alone but I would like to see my dad more," she confesses to them.

"That's great Hanna," Kelsey says quietly taking her seat, as the bell rings her cheerful mood had fast disappeared.

* * *

Kelsey turns the key walking into the house, jumping in fright when she sees Troy standing beside the door. "What the hell Troy," she scolds, "you almost gave me a heart attack," placing a hand on her heart.

"I saw who dropped you off last night," he tells her, his voice low.

"Stalker much," she growls at him, not prepared to get into this argument with him right at this moment.

"Kelsey, dad is a fugitive if you get caught helping him you're screwed," he hisses at her.

Kelsey rolls her eyes, "Oh, this is so not about protecting me," she retorts.

"Yes it is Kels, that's what its always been about," he argues.

Kelsey sighs, sinking down onto the steps, "Well if it makes you feel better, he won't be getting money from me anymore," she tells him, "what it is with us, why is that every time we talk we fight?" she asks him.

Troy shrugs sitting beside her, "Cause we're so alike," he informs her.

Kelsey laughs, "Yeah I suppose we are," she agrees, "but I mean dad's never coming back, so me and you we're all we've got. Maybe we should try a bit harder to remember that," she suggests, her voice almost a whisper.

"I'll try, if you do," Troy agrees, placing an arm around his sisters shoulders for what was probably the first time in years.

"Deal," Kelsey agrees.

* * *

Kelsey makes her way over to Spencer's house after receiving the S.O.S, nervous about what it could be. As she arrives she sees the other girls, with only Hanna missing. Spencer directs them upstairs, not yet explaining what was going on. As Kelsey steps into Spencer's room she sees Hanna, but her eyes are quickly caught by something else. _It won't be that easy bitches – A._ The words were written with lipstick across Spencer's mirror with a colour Kelsey recognized.

"Jungle red," she says stepping forward.

"Alison's colour," Emily says, as the four girls step forward as well.

* * *

 **A/N - I feel awful not only have I not updated in ages, but this is also a shorter chapter than usual, forgive me, I'll make sure from not on to update more regularly. At least once a week :) Thanks so much for the support for the story, its just amazing.**

 **GetTraught- Thank you so much, I'm so glad you like the story, especially since its so close to what you were thinking of doing :) I'm glad you like Kelsey, she's definitely one of the more complex characters I've written or maybe thats just her relationship with her family. I definitely plan on continuing this and I hope you'll keep enjoying it :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Reality Bites Me**

"A sent this letter to my mum," Aria tells the four girls sitting around Spencer's living room in their pyjamas.

"You know it's not your fault right?" Emily reminds Aria, as Aria continues to stare at the letter in her hand, "its your dad's mistake totally."

"No it's my fault," Aria disagrees, her voice quiet.

"You did not hook up with her and then ask your kid to cover for you," Spencer says, placing the breakfast ingredients she had gathered from the fridge on the counter.

"Ali said I should've told my mum right after it happened," Aria informs them.

"Ali?" Emily repeats in shock, "Alison knew?" The four girls all look at Aria for her response.

"Yeah, she was with me," Aria says quickly, taking a nervous sip of her coffee.

"So Alison saw this Meredith person?" Spencer questions Aria.

"Meredith? Her name's Meredith, eww," Hanna comments, "that's not even a cute girl name, I'm seeing big pores and mousy roots."

"Hann," Spencer whispers looking at Aria, "I think it's a little too soon to joke."

"I'm sorry but if you're going to cheat, at least do it with someone who deep conditions her hair," she replies.

"Here," Spencer says, handing Hanna a bagel on a plate, "put something in your mouth besides your foot," she encourages Hanna.

Hanna turns to face Aria, "I'm sorry okay," she says her voice sincere, "all I'm saying is that when my dad left laughing sometimes helped. So did crying."

"My father hasn't left guys," Aria reminds them standing up to walk over to them, "I mean this happened over a year ago." All the girls look down unable say anything in fear of saying the wrong thing. "You think he's going to leave?" Aria asks at their continued silence.

"Look Aria, in my experience, if your parents have stuck it out together this long then I reckon they have a pretty good shot and if not," Kelsey says shrugging, "you always have us." Aria takes in her words, unable to say anything in return.

"Thank you guys, for staying here," Spencer breaks the silence, "I couldn't have been here alone," she admits to them.

"When's your family getting back?" Hanna asks her gently.

"This afternoon," Spencer replies, her words relieved.

"Aren't you going to clean off the mirror before they get here?" Aria asks, reminding the girls of the thing they didn't want to think of.

Spencer hesitates on the answer, "Want me to come with?" Emily offers kindly. Spencer takes a deep breath nodding.

"We should all go," Aria suggests standing up.

"You know what, it doesn't take five of us to clean a mirror, so why don't you four go and I'll just waiting here," Hanna says, swinging in her seat to face them.

Kelsey nods, "Excellent idea Hanna, stay down here alone," she encourages her, her voice teasing, "but just make sure to lock the door."

"Right, you spray, I'll wipe," Hanna changes her mind, walking over to where the others have just began to climb the stairs. They all stop to look back at Hanna as her cell phone chimes. "Well, the creature's back," she informs them, as the all huddle around her and her phone, "we should never have unblocked our phones."

 _Ever wonder what's going on when your back is turned? – A_

"Open the attachment," Emily says, looking down at the video file that came with the message. Hanna clicks into, turning her phone as it begins showing the girls discovering the mirror and its writing from the night before.

"That's us," Aria breathes, "was that shot from inside your closet?" she questions Spencer. They all turn from the phone, their eyes drifting nervously up Spencer's stairs.

"A was watching us," Spencer says heading upstairs as the others follow nervously. Spencer looks back at the others as she pulls her closet doors open. The five girls all jump back and scream as something falls to the ground. They breathe raggedly as they fight to get over the shock.

Aria steps forward spotting something on the ground, picking it up, "Guys, check it out," she says, holding up the lipstick for them to see. She opens it up, twisting so the colour is revealed, she runs it across her hand marking it, then holding it up to compare to the mirror. They all share a look as they realize they match each other.

* * *

Kelsey run her fingers through her hair, ruffling it as she packed various things into her bag. "Hey Kels," her brother greets her as he steps into their lounge room.

"Hey," she replies, looking up at his serious expression and the way he twists the cell phone in his hand nervously. "What's up?" she asks cautiously, worried that whatever he was going to say would make her want to fight with him, which was something she was really trying hard not to do.

"In the interests in not ruining our tentative peace, I thought I should tell you that I've been looking for mum," he admits to her.

Kelsey took the news like a blow to the head, "Wow," she breathes, staring at him.

"That's it?" Troy questions as she remains silent.

Kelsey shakes her head, "I don't know what to say, I don't want to fight with you and I think if this conversation continues that is exactly what is going to happen," she tells him, grabbing her bag as she makes a move for the door.

Troy holds out a hand effectively stopping her, "Kels," he begins.

She shakes her head once more, "Thanks for telling me, I'm glad you did," she confesses, "but I just cannot go down the mum track, not now, maybe not ever."

* * *

"You seriously think that a blind girl broke into my house, that would take a lot more than a talking GPS," Spencer says as the five girls gather at her locker to talk.

"Well, I didn't say that Jenna was alone," Aria responds, not needing to name the person she thought might have been with Jenna.

"Let's not go to the Toby place okay," Emily speaks up in his defence.

"Why not?" Aria argues, "do you guys think her guide dog left behind his lipstick."

"Yeah, do you want to ask your lab partner what he was doing last night?" Spencer questions Emily, "like maybe he took a break from sitting on his porch pulling heads off squirrels."

Emily rolls her eyes as one of the teacher's approaches, "Spencer," he greets her, "sorry ladies I didn't mean to interrupt but I hope you're as proud of your friend as I am," he says grinning as he produces an envelope from behind is back, "congratulations, my instincts were right, this just makes it official," he tells her, walking away as Spencer stares down at the envelope in her hands.

"What's that about?" Aria asks as Spencer puts the envelope away.

"An essay contest," she tells them, shrugging it off.

"Wow Spencer, and you're not even going to open it, you win way to many things," Kelsey comments to her friend.

* * *

Kelsey leans against Noel looking upwards at the stars in the skies. "You alright?" Noel questions her, flicking a piece of hair out of face.

"Aha," she assures him, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"But you'd rather sit in a park than go home," he comments to her jokingly.

Kelsey laughs, "No I'd rather spend more time with you," she replies, pulling him closer as their lips met.

Noel smiles as they separate, taking her hand in his, "What's up? I know you somethings going on," he says, not allowing her to distract him.

Kelsey sighs, shaking her head slightly, "I should never have let you know me so well," she murmurs, "I don't want to go home because Troy wants to talk," she admits.

"Sounds ominous," Noel comments, squeezing her hand in comfort.

"It is," Kelsey agrees, "he's looking for our mother."

"And I take it you're not too happy about that," he says, as always able to guess her reaction.

Kelsey shrugs, "I don't know. I've never thought about it and I don't want to. There is nothing she can say that would make abandoning us okay," she explains to him, trying to voice the tirade of feelings she had. It was bad enough trying to deal with this A stuff, but adding this on top of it was too damn much.

"You not the less bit curious?" Noel questions her, study her features to try and gauge what was going on inside her head.

"Let me tell you a truth, curiosity didn't kill the cat, it was disappointment because that's all curiosity leads to, a whole world of disappointment," Kelsey informs him.

"I never picked you for one to scare easily," Noel says, causing Kelsey to sit up and glare at him.

"I'm not afraid," she snaps, before sighing, "maybe a little, its just what you don't know can't hurt you and I'm just not in the mood to deal with more hurt on top of everything," she confesses, her voice no louder than a whisper.

"You still miss Alison, don't you?" Noel questions her, causing her to close her eyes wondering if she wanted to respond to that or not.

"I tell myself I don't, over and over and over again, enough times to convince myself, but in the dark right before I fall asleep I know I'll always miss her and I hate it," Kelsey mutters, her remaining closed, because she didn't want to open them and see Noel's face. She hadn't been this open even with Alison, only with one other person and they had broken her and she was terrified it was going to happen again.

* * *

 **A/N - Sorry if this chapter is short again, that's just how it turned out. Thanks again for the reviews :)**

 **LiLuLo12- Thanks for the review and Jason will be in the story after the next chapter :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N - Link on my profile for Kelsey's homecoming dress :)**

 **There's No Place Like Homecoming**

Kelsey, Hanna, Emily and Spencer wander into Aria's room, where she lays back to them, the music drumming through her headphones making her unable to hear her friend's entry. "What are you doing?" Aria protests, as Spencer removes her headphones and places herself at the end of the bed.

"An intervention," Spencer responds, as Emily steps forward arms full of magazines.

"We brought takeout and rag mags," Emily tells her, throwing the magazines down on the bed beside Aria.

"But you cannot have any of those until you get out of these sweats," Hanna says, eyeing the clothes Aria had assembled herself in.

"What's wrong with these?" Aria questions them, as sits herself up on the bed.

"I wonder," Kelsey mutters, taking the seat next to Hanna.

"They're starting to graft to your skin," Spencer informs, hands on her hips as she looks down at her friend.

"Well, they're comfy," Aria argues.

"So are mom jeans and platform flip-flops," Hanna claims, forcing Aria to smile at her words.

"Plus, how are we going to help you choose a homecoming dress if you don't try some on for us first," Emily adds in.

"Well that's easy," Aria says, shrugging, "I'm not going."

"What do you mean you're not going?" Hanna asks in disbelief.

"You can't just not go," Spencer agrees, shaking her head at Aria.

"Exactly its not optional," Kelsey pipes in, wishing that she could help with Aria's current state.

"What are you doing instead?" Emily questions her.

"I don't know, I guess I'll just read these," Aria begins, gesturing over to the magazines, "and inhale a gallon of chunky monkey."

"Hey," Spencer says gently, "cutting yourself off from the rest of your life is not going to help your parents, and besides they still might work it out," she reminds her, trying to cheer up her friend.

"They're barely speaking to each other," Aria mutters in response.

"People get angry, they blow up, doesn't mean its over," Emily tries to comfort her.

"Emily, they didn't blow up over her dad missing their anniversary. He slept with one of his students," Hanna replies, "sorry," she murmurs to Aria as she realizes the implications of her words on the girl.

"Besides sometimes anger is better indicator than none at all," Kelsey adds, "these things just take time."

Aria gives a half smile, "Yeah maybe," she mutters, though her tone sounds unconvinced.

"Okay, so your coming," Spencer exclaims, grabbing Aria's legs and attempting to pull her from the bed.

"God," Aria complains in response.

"Come on," Spencer encourages her.

"I'll think about it," Aria tells them, pushing herself up from the bed.

"Well if you're not coming can you at least cast an absentee ballot?" Hanna asks her from the bed, as the rest of the girls prepare the takeout. The four of them look at Hanna before scoffing unsurprised.

"What?" Hanna demands, "I need her vote."

"Hanna, stop already. You've got homecoming queen locked down," Spencer assures her, moving furniture into place to act as chairs.

"Really?" Hanna questions curious, "you can rig the election."

"Sorry, I have enough to do already thanks," Spencer tells her, rolling her eyes at her blonde friend, "I'm head of the committee, half of which is out sick with the flu, so I'll be restocking the ice and refilling the hummus bowl, and trying to look cute for my first official date," Spencer says, muttering the last part.

"With Alex?" Emily questions excited as passes out the food.

Spencer nods slowly, "Wait, your bringing him to homecoming?" Aria questions her shocked.

"Gee so this is like a real actual thing," Kelsey says, looking over at her friend her couldn't keep the smile off her face.

"Look at her blush," Hanna remarks, causing the rest of them to laugh.

"Stop," Spencer scolds her lightly.

"Damn now I have to come," Aria says laughing.

"Seriously, you guys, he's not going to know anybody there so can you just do your best to make him feel included?" Spencer begs them.

"No we were planning on freezing him out," Hanna retorts sarcastically.

Spencer rolls her eyes, "Alright moving on, Em who are you going to bring?" Spencer questions curious.

"I'm think I'm going to go stag," Emily decides.

Aria nods at her words from her seat, "I will to," she agrees, reaching forward to pick up a box of takeout.

"Why don't you guys come together?" Spencer suggests jokingly, "oh you'd make such a cute couple."

Aria chuckles at her words, "How did I just go from wearing mom jeans to Samantha Ranson?" she asks them all. Hanna looks over to Emily as the rest of the girls laugh.

"Who cares who anyone goes to this thing with? I mean its just a dance. You should bring someone who you have fun with," she encourages Emily.

"I might want to go with someone," Emily admits, "I just don't want people thinking it means more than it does."

"Are you and Ben back together?" Spencer questions her surprised, as Emily takes her seat.

"No, of course not," Emily replies.

"So," Aria begins, "who's the mystery dude?"

"I'm starving," Hanna declares before Emily can respond or the silence could drag on, she reaches forward grabbing the bag of fortune cookies. She opens the cookie a frown covering her face as she reads the message inside.

"Whats wrong? Bad fortune?" Emily questions as she looks over at her.

"Yeah, Confucius says stop being such a drama queen," Spencer jokes.

"Lions and tigers and bitches, oh my! There's no place like homecoming. See you there, A," Hanna reads the words from the fortune as the smiles die on all the girls faces. Spencer grabs the bag from Hanna, opening every fortune cookie to reveal the same message inside each.

* * *

Kelsey walks towards her oldest best friend determined. "Thom," she greets him, leaning against the locker beside his. Thom groans at her appearance, shutting his locker to turn and face her. "So?" she questions, pushing him on the shoulder as she smiles.

"So nothing," he shrugs, placing his backpack over his shoulder stuffed full of books.

"That's all you've got for me," Kelsey complains, walking quickly to catch up with him, "you promised you'd ask her."

"I know," Thom responds, "and I did."

"And?" Kelsey questions, her smile disappearing as she sensed the answer to her question wasn't a good one.

Thom sighs, "And nothing, she said we were better as friends," he admits.

"I'm sorry," Kelsey murmurs, putting her hands around his shoulders.

Thom shakes her off, "She's probably right, besides I'd prefer to go this dance alone, easier to leave earlier," he tells her, giving her a grin in an attempt to convince her he was okay.

Kelsey clicked her tongue, "I suppose, I'm sorry I pushed you," she says, lowering her voice. That was true, she did feel bad, but she had been sure that Ashley the girl who Thom had a crush on, would agree to go to homecoming with him.

"Its fine if I hadn't asked I would never have known," he tells her, "anyway I'll see you tonight," he says, Thom's eyes finding Noel walking towards them.

"He alright?" Noel questions her, nodding his head towards Thom's disappearing figure.

Kelsey sighs, "I may have messed with his love life again," she mutters, ambling forwards to her next class.

"You didn't learn from last time?" Noel asks, an amused grin on his face.

Kelsey rolls her eyes, "You know me, it takes at least three times before I learn from a mistake," she jokes.

"Yeah I'm not sure why that one hasn't sunk in yet," he retorts, grabbing Kelsey's hand before she walks into her class, "so I'll pick you up around 8?"

"Aha," Kelsey agrees smiling, "this could be fun," she decides.

"Could be?" Noel repeats in confusion.

"I have to say that in case anything goes wrong," Kelsey explains, realizing the likelihood of something going wrong, with A lurking out there somewhere.

* * *

"So are you ever going to tell me who the mystery guy is?" Kelsey questions Emily who was sitting on her bed, going through her school stuff. Kelsey turns around to look at Emily when no reply is forthcoming. "Em?" she questions, wondering if her friend hadn't heard her.

Emily looks up at her before shrugging, "You'll find out tonight," she murmurs, just loud enough for Kelsey to catch.

Kelsey smiles, "So you are going with him," she says, pulling out her black dress from her closet.

"Yeah," Emily confirms, as Kelsey turns around walking towards her full length mirror.

"So what's the harm in telling me now?" she questions, as she studied herself, rethinking her homecoming dress decision.

"No harm, I suppose," Emily mutters, standing up and rifling through the box of jewellery on Kelsey's dresser.

"So?" Kelsey prompts her, hanging her dress from the side handle of her mirror.

"I just don't want you to get the wrong idea," Emily tells her, eyes glancing over a pair of her earrings, "we're just friends."

Kelsey falls down into her old leather armchair nodding, "Got it, just friends. Now spill," she demands, curling her legs up beside her. Emily looks over to her hesitant to speak, which made Kelsey all the more curious.

"It's Toby," she finally says.

Kelsey's eyes widen in shock, "As in Toby Cavanaugh?" she hisses, unable to believe it and figuring it must just be another Toby she didn't know.

"Yeah," Emily admits.

"Emily," Kelsey exclaims, "you can't go with him. For all we know he could be A, well him and his step sister," Kelsey lectures.

"You don't know him," Emily counters, eyes fill of disapproval.

"Okay that may be true, but I mean come on look what Ali forced him to do, don't tell me he doesn't hate us," Kelsey argues, unable to believe Emily couldn't see that.

"He doesn't," she says firmly.

Kelsey rolls her eyes, "I doubt he's that evolved," she snaps.

Emily glares at her before turning to gather her stuff, "This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you," she says, heading towards the bedroom door.

Kelsey jumps up quickly, "Look Em I'm just worried about you," Kelsey tells her, her voice soft.

"I get that, but you need to trust me on this," she replies, standing at the door.

Kelsey hesitates for a few moments before nodding, "Fine, I'll hold my tongue."

"And don't tell the others," Emily adds.

"Em," Kelsey begins, not wanting to have to keep this news from them.

"Please Kels, they'll find out tonight anyway," she reminds her, voice hopeful. Kelsey nods, trying to shake the pit out of her stomach. It didn't sit right with her, standing back and letting Emily go to homecoming with Toby, but she did trust Emily's judgement she supposed. "Thank you," Emily says, breathing a sigh of relief, "and I like the dress," she adds before leaving.

* * *

Kelsey leans against Noel's shoulder at the Homecoming dance, eyes straying from Aria having her shift to Spencer and Melissa in a heated argument, then to Hanna at the snack table with Mona. "Have you seen Emily?" she questions Noel, unable to locate her.

Noel shakes his head, "Must not have arrived yet," he says to her. Kelsey hoped that maybe she had just decided not to come, realizing that Toby was a bad idea. She felt bad enough about not letting her friends know about this particular piece of news. "You alright?" Noel asks her, hand enclosing around her own.

She put a smile on her face, trying to forget about Toby and Emily, "Yeah, I'm good," she promises. Kelsey eyes drift across the room again, this time finding her friends grouped together. "Be back soon," she tells Noel, heading over to the others.

"Hey," the greet her, the second greeting of the night. Kelsey opens her mouth to speak but stops as Maya appears, "Hi," she says to the girls. They all reply quickly.

"Have you guys seen Emily around?" she asks them.

"No," Hanna answers for them, reaching into her bag, "I was just about to text her."

"Don't bother," Aria tells her, eyes glancing off in the distance. Kelsey follows her gaze, seeing Emily and Toby walking in together hand in hand. Maya sees them to, not saying anything as she walks away. The girls look at each other unsure how to react as Emily and Toby walk towards them.

"Hey guys," Emily greets them. Aria, Spencer, and Hanna don't say anything, unwilling to interact with Toby.

"Hey Em," Kelsey says, feeling bad for the girl, however she makes no attempt to extend her hello to Toby.

"I'll go get us some drinks," Toby tells her, making his way behind the girls and leaving them with Emily.

"You're here with Toby?" Spencer asks in disbelief.

"Either you've got some genius plan of sleeping with the enemy, or you've lost your mind," Aria hisses, her voice low.

"You don't even know him," Emily retorts.

"What is there to know, who else could have helped Jenna, he has every reason to hate us," Spencer reminds her harshly.

"Well he doesn't," Emily informs her, beginning to get angry.

"Emily if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a fricking duck," Hanna snaps at her friend.

Emily looks at her blonde friend in disappointment, "Wow, I thought at least you'd understand," she says before walking away. Hanna grabs her arm stopping her, as Kelsey, Spencer and Aria head the other way.

"This is so not good," Kelsey mutters more to herself, as she watches Hanna and Emily talk.

"You said it," Aria agrees from beside her.

"Did I miss something?" Spencer questions Hanna as she approaches them again, "when did she start hanging out with Toby?"

"I have no idea I have never even seen her talk to him," Aria responds, eyes glued onto Toby and Emily.

"I think she just wants to be friends with him," Kelsey mutters, remembering her conversation from earlier that day.

"How do you know that?" Hanna questions her, tone accusatory.

"There you are," Sean says, as the three boys approach before Kelsey can reply, "you keep disappearing on us."

"Yeah, we had to get ice," Hanna lies for the four of them.

"Hey, you want to dance," Alex asks Spencer, extending his hand to her.

"Let's do it," Spencer replies, taking his hand as he leads her to the dance floor. Noel grabs Kelsey hand, pulling her towards the dance floor.

"Want to see something that might actually make you smile?" he questions.

"I told you I'm fine," Kelsey tells him.

"How long is it going to take for you to realize I know you?" Noel asks her.

Kelsey laughs, "Okay, then yes show me something that will make me smile," she agrees.

Noel puts his arms around her as they begin to dance, "To your left," he whispers in her ear. Kelsey frowns but follows the instruction, seeing Thom and Ashley, the girl he had a crush on dancing together.

Kelsey smiles her first genuine one of the night, "How?" she asks Noel.

Noel shrugs, "I may have offered some advice," he tells her modestly.

"God you're perfect, you know that right?" Kelsey replies, wondering how she had got so lucky. She couldn't think of another guy who would realize how important it was to her, to see her childhood friend happy. Kelsey just wondered what was wrong with her that she couldn't appreciate it more.

* * *

Kelsey gives Spencer a questioning look as she touches her on the back, gesturing for her to come with her. Kelsey gives Noel an apologetic look, as heads to the entrance with Spencer and the other girls. "I figured out what Toby's tattoo means," she informs them.

"What?" Hanna asks in anticipation.

"901 free at last, its September 1st," she explains to them, waiting for them to guess the rest.

"That's the day Ali disappeared," Aria realizes at the same time as Kelsey and Hanna. Spencer nods in affirmation.

"Hanna, you've got to get that file," Aria says, turning to Hanna.

Hanna groans, "Tonight?" she questions.

"Emily's not going to believe us without proof, she could be walking into a trap," Spencer explains to Hanna, trying to get across the gravity of the situation.

"Could we do it after they announce homecoming queen, please," Hanna begs, as Spencer's eyes widen in disbelief, "okay fine, fine, I'll get it. Keep an eye on Emily until I get the file," she instructs Spencer.

"Wait, what about me?" Aria asks before Hanna can move.

"Keep an eye on Sean," Hanna tells her.

"What?" Aria questions in confusion.

"I can't exactly tell him where I'm going and if I make something up he'll want to come with me, just keep him busy," she says to Aria.

"How am I supposed to do that?" Aria asks her.

"I don't know figure it out," Hanna responds, about to walk away.

"Wait, I'm coming with you," Kelsey informs her, at Hanna's look of confusion she adds, "just trust me, I'm good and getting into places I'm not supposed to be."

Hanna frowns at her words, "What is that supposed to mean?" she questions.

Kelsey shakes her head as they walk, "Don't overthink it," she says, her tone colder than usual, indicating she didn't want any more questions.

* * *

"Tell me why we got a ride with Lucas?" Kelsey questions Hanna as they walk into the darkened office leaving him in the hall.

"He had a car, I saw an opportunity and I took it," Hanna informs her, opening the filing cabinet.

"You should be more concerned that he might tell someone," Kelsey says, holding up the torch as Hanna rifles through the files.

"Paranoid?" Hanna says in reply, trying to sort through the files.

"Sometimes it pays," Kelsey shrugs, "here hold," Kelsey demands passing her the torch as she takes over searching through the files. "There's nothing under M," Kelsey says in frustration. She switches her focus, eyes finding the C section. "Got it," she says, finding the file for Toby Cavanaugh.

"Is that a file for Toby?" Hanna asks, as Kelsey pulls it out.

"Yeah," Kelsey answers, opening it and moving Hanna's hand so the torch points at the words inside.

* * *

Hanna and Kelsey run into the hall, quickly gesturing for Spencer and Aria to come join them. Hanna passes back Lucas's jacket giving him a hug, as Spencer and Aria make their way towards them. "Thanks Lucas," Kelsey says, giving him a smile. The four of them head out of the hall, making their way into the mirror maze.

"Is that Jenna's file?" Spencer asks them, eyeing the file in Hanna's hand.

"No Toby's," Kelsey answers, biting her lip in worry.

"Turns out Jenna wasn't the patient, the therapist had her come in for one session to see how she felt about Toby coming back home," Hanna explains to them.

"Oh my god," Aria breathes, "well what else does it say?" she asks desperately.

"Well, the dates prove he wasn't away at school when Ali disappeared, he was still here in Rosewood," Hanna tells them.

"Well what else?" Aria questions Kelsey and Hanna snatching the file away.

"See for yourself," Hanna encourages her.

"Its not pretty though," Kelsey murmurs, worry flooding through her, wishing she had forced Emily to not come with Toby.

"Session 12, August 15th," Aria reads out loud.

"So that's what Ali had on him," Spencer says, as the read the part about Toby and Jenna's relationship.

"Its enough to want her dead," Hanna says.

"And us," Aria adds, "Emily," she breathes. Aria grabs her purse pulling out her phone and ringing Emily. "She's not picking up," Aria tells them, as the phone stops ringing.

"Text her," Kelsey hisses, unable to shake the feeling something bad was going to happen.

"We have to find her," Hanna declares as Aria texts, "come on," she tells them as they all make their way out and back into the school halls.

They run into the cafeteria as Aria leads them, "Where is she?" she says, stopping to look around.

"Maybe they left," Hanna guesses.

"Get away from me," the girls hear Emily's voice faintly.

"That's her," Spencer comments, as they make their way towards where the voice had come from.

* * *

 **A/N - So I'm super sorry about how long this update took, I've been away on holiday and have had no time for writing. Though in better news, only one more chapter till Jason, yeah all the waiting is killing me too!**

 **Thank you to my reviewers, its what keeps me writing.**

 **GetTraught - Yes she does have a history with Jason, which will be explored when he finally shows up lol. Thanks for the review.**


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